Chasing Colors
by gonagonadalgona
Summary: Iroha sees the world in two ways. An OC story, born as the younger sister of Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke. Not a SI. Shikamaru/OC
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER:** None of the Naruto characters are mine, they are all Kishimoto's. I'm just messing around with them. Oh, but the OC is mine.

**Prologue**

She was a disgrace. The shame of the clan.

And yet, it wasn't even her fault.

Or was it?

* * *

Mikoto choked a sob as she traced the face of her baby's face with trembling hands. Her daughter was beautiful, with delicate features and pale skin. Yet Fugaku had not even held her once she was born in grim disappointment and fury, and she feared it. Not for herself, nor for the clan, but for the fragile, tiny life held in her arms, oblivious to her fate.

"Mother?"

The gentle voice of her oldest son jerked her out of her thoughts, and Mikoto tried to put on a smile that felt more like a grimace.

"Itachi, you came back."

The boy - he was still a boy, but he looked old, so old - inclined his head, and walked towards her, concern evident in his eyes.

"You should eat, Mother."

Mikoto knows she should. She had just given birth a few days ago, and her body was still recovering. But food felt like sand and rocks on her tongue, and she couldn't bring herself to eat more. Still, Itachi's face held genuine concern, and she cannot afford to be weak, not now, not when her daughter is being shunned by the entire clan, so she nods and proceeds to empty the bowl of soup offered to her. Itachi's lips twinged with slight relief just to disappear into a blank face he always wears. And Mikoto _hates_ it, hates the cold, emotionally empty face that her husband drilled into his eldest, and the years of frustration and anger bubbles under her chest as she watches Itachi's eyes turn soft as he turns to look at his youngest sister.

"She is beautiful, Mother."

Mikoto's eyes well up in tears at that tender words, because she knows, knows that Itachi always loved kids, and longed for another sibling even after Sasuke. Itachi leaned toward the baby, looking at the small face with awe and love and _promises _and as the brother kissed the baby's forehead with softly whispered words, Mikoto truly smiled for the first time since she gave birth.

_Welcome, imouto. I will keep you safe._

* * *

Itachi returns to the compound that night, mind whirling in thoughts and concerns as he remembered his mother's worn out face. He desired to stay with his mother, his new sister, but he had obligations and he needed to talk to his father.

The house is grim as he enters, quiet and dark. He noticed the light on his father's study - with a faint smell of sake - and decids to check on Sasuke first before he confronts his father. Fugaku would have noticed his entrance anyways, and as the man didn't demand his presence right away, Itachi didn't hesitate.

Sasuke's room is dark, but as he opens the door, the young boy seats up wide awake, smiling as he always did whenever he sees him.

"Itachi-nii!"

"Sasuke."

And as he breathed in his brother's familiar scent, he lets the tension in his body bleed out a little, and Sasuke earnestly holds onto him, because when was the last time he'd seen him?

"Have you seen Mother?"

It was a innocent enough question, but by the way Sasuke's face darkens, Itachi knew that the matter might be worse than he anticipated.

"No, not since she went to the hospital. Itachi-nii, is she really-"

Sasuke glances to the door and lowers his voice to a barely audible whisper.

"Is it true? The baby? Father breaks something every time she is mentioned and..."

_You're scared,_ Itachi thinks, and he understands, because Father breaking things is indeed terrifying, and Mother not being home doesn't help the situation. He looks at his younger brother's onyx eyes, bright with adoration for him (which he is forever grateful because he doesn't _deserve_ it) and pokes his finger to Sasuke's forehead as he always does.

"Do not worry, otouto. The baby and Mother are both fine. As for the issue you speak, do not let those hinder your affections to your family. We are family, as is our new imouto. Do you understand?"

Sasuke nods solemnly, and Itachi knew he understood.

* * *

Fugaku looked _wretched_. And Itachi looks blankly as he doesn't even glance at his son as he downs bottle after bottle of sake. Itachi considers his options, and decides a direct confrontation is probably the best.

"Father."

The man didn't even acknowledge him.

"Mother should come back home. With my sister."

The sake bottle slams - breaking both the bottle and the table - but Itachi doesn't even twitch as he fixes his stare to his father. He is not trying to be disrespectful, but if there is one thing Uchiha Itachi holds truly dear, it is family, and his sister was one. So he doesn't back out, not even flinches at his father's cold fury.

"She cannot."

They both knew who the 'she' was.

"She is our sister. She is also a Uchiha."

Itachi counters in a perfectly calm voice. Fugaku's chakra is incensed, and his eyes flicker to red than to black and to red again.

"She can never be a true Uchiha."

_She will be a disgrace. _Itachi could hear the words from his father's lips.

"Since when were the Uchina defined by their eye color?"

Itachi watches as his father stills. He braces himself, he knows he is young, he is barely a genin, but he is not called a genius for nothing. He learned from his father since he could barely talk, and is not oblivious of clan politics, but he could not accept to just give up on his sister. He would not.

"Itachi."

And there was the warning. Itachi suddenly thinks of Shisui, his easy-going, yet astute best friend and cousin, and wonders what he thought of the whole ordeal. Probably wanting to give baby color-lenses or just to get rid of all the Elders, knowing him.

"We are Uchiha by our name, our skill, and our dignity, not only by our bloodline limit, Father. It was you who taught me that."

And Fugaku knows he did. He remembers the lecture, his young prodigy son sitting front of him in a solemn face as he spoke those exact words. And he had truly meant it, word by word. But now he was here, in a breaking point because his newborn daughter - and gods, he was so _happy_ when Mikoto told him they were having a girl - has no chance to activate the Sharingan. None at all. He looks at his eldest, takes in his blank, yet sincere expression and loosens his grip on the broken bottle.

"Do you know the implications of her circumstances?"

"That the clan head's child will not be able to activate the Sharingan?"

"That is not wrong, but not all."

He inclined his head to his eldest son.

"Sit."

Itachi searches his father's face, sees the weariness, the grief, and gracefully settles in front of him.

"There was never a Uchiha with different eye colors. Never. Even through marriages with different clans, they never have the Uchiha features with different eyes. You either get both, or you do not. Especially in the Head house."

Itachi's eyes go wide, if just a little bit. His father's face is grave as stone.

"If the baby had different hair or face, it might have been the question of Mikoto's loyalty. But she is claimed to have all the Uchiha features, just not the eyes. For the _first_ time in the history of the clan, there is a legitimate child who doesn't have the Uchiha eyes. And she is from the Head house who usually marries _within _the clan. It was impossible, it was deemed impossible, yet it happened."

"...Father."

"She is a mutation. An anomaly. She is the proof that Sharingan might not last to the future generations, the evidence that our clan might become extinct someday. She shames me, shames me by simply being born."

Fugaku reaches for another bottle of sake because he needs it, because he wants to forget, forget the genetic implications, forget the Elders' worried cries about the clan, and forget that he desperately wants to meet his daughter.

And Itachi sits there, in stunned silence, unable to argue yet unwilling to agree.

(But in second thought, maybe the marriage within clans is _not_ the reason to deem it impossible, but rather is the cause of it? He isn't an expert in genetics, but surely generations of reproduction between close relations can cause genetic problems?

Itachi looks at his father, miserable and angry at the same time, and remembers his mother, eyes burning in protective love, but tired and hurt.

Then maybe, maybe he could research and prove that his only sister is not a shame, not a disgrace, but a proof that his clan's fixation on a pure bloodline could backfire.

Then maybe, his sister could come home.)


	2. Gold

**DISCLAIMER:** None of the Naruto characters are mine, they are all Kishimoto's. I'm just messing around with them. Oh, but the OC is mine.

**A/N**: Thank you for the reviews! And for reading this:) Now our OC gets a name on this chapter! Forgive me if my English is a bit awkward, English is not my first language after all, and I don't even have a beta. But I try not to make a lot of mistakes, so I hope it's okay. Enjoy:]

**Chapter 1: Gold**

Her daughter is a week old when she finally receives a name.

The Elders are still disapproving, and they didn't want her to receive the Uchiha name at all, but somehow Fugaku and Itachi manages to persuade them that the child should given a chance. Not welcomed to the family, but given a chance to prove she is worthy of the name. As if the other clan members are any better.

(No one had to earn the Uchiha name, even the weakest and the stupidest among them, and Mikoto swallows an angry sob. Family names are given by blood, not worth, but Mikoto keeps silent because her daughter deserves a last name. And she would do anything to give it to her.

She considered divorce, just for a split second, but she is the Uchiha Matriarch, so that would never be allowed. She also loves her sons with all her heart, and she knows she cannot leave them. And for some unknown reason, she actually loves her hardened, cold husband, and knows that Fugaku will be destroyed if she leaves him. So she vows to make this work.)

After a long discussion (or rather Mikoto trying not to burn the Elders into ashes), they concede, and decides that she can be integrated to the clan. _But_, they say - and _oh_ _how_ Mikoto _hates_ them - the girl must marry an Uchiha when she turns eighteen and she will not be allowed to have a child. _We cannot afford for her abomination to spread, _and Fugaku _nods_ at that.

Mikoto couldn't bare to even _look _at her husband for a month.

* * *

Mikoto names her baby Iroha. Glowing colors. It fits her, she muses as she watches Sasuke meet his sister for the first time. The toddler looks entranced, and she is so, so relieved that her son is taking this better than she had thought. She knew the clan isn't exactly silent about their opinion of the newest member of the Head house.

"Oh."

She hears the gasp of breath from Sasuke as the baby girl slowly opened her eyes to meet the onyx ones of her brother. Sasuke stares, mesmerized, at the glowing, _golden_ pupils of his baby sister. They were _beautiful_. Different, yes, but beautiful and exotic and so, so _special_. He reaches out to poke the small forehead, just like his Itachi-nii had done to him, and whispers in awe and adoration.

"Hello, Iroha. I am your Sasuke-nii. Welcome to the family."

_Welcome to the family,_ and Mikoto knows that was all she wanted.

* * *

Fugaku watches his youngest child, his only daughter, only from afar, only in the dark. He watches as Itachi tries to stay home more rather than go out on C-ranks as a genin, watches as Sasuke is completely enthralled by his younger sibling and babbles to her constantly. He works in the Military Force till dusk, endures his wife's cold wrath, and tries to forget and swallow his guilt. He tries to remember that the decision wasn't personal, that he needs to think as the Head of the clan, not a mere father.

He tries to convince himself that he was not wrong.

And he fails.

* * *

Itachi knows he shouldn't hate the Elders. They are family too after all, as they share the name Uchiha and is from the same bloodline. But they deemed Iroha as an outsider, just because she doesn't have the same eyes. Sometimes, Itachi wonders if the clan deserves his loyalty.

(But he cannot afford that thought, can he? He is the eldest son of the current Head, he will be the next one if he lives until his father dies. He has to be loyal, to the village and the clan both, and he desperately, desperately wishes that he wouldn't have too choose - because he himself isn't sure of the outcome.

No, he might doubt the clan, but _never his family_.

And his family is part of the Uchiha, and thus they will have his loyalty. And he wishes, for his sake and theirs, that they never threaten his siblings.)

Itachi watches as his mother never leaves Iroha alone, always leaving him or Sasuke or sometimes Shisui with her if she has business to attend. He listens as some clan members grumble about the Matriarch giving birth to a disgrace, that they do not deserve the position. He watches the Elders, not even trying to conceal their pathetic worry about the mere possibility that maybe not all Uchihas have the potential of the Saringan. (_Stupid, _Shisui had muttered, _It's not like there are no Naras or Yamanakas out there who do not possess their clan techniques._) And he remembers the verdict, the decision to limit his sister's life as if she is some sort of _disease_, and knows what he would do the minute he becomes the Clan Head. He will free his sister, free her from the fate that his father had failed to save her from.

(And if he hopes that the Elders might die from old age or other _unnatural_ causes before Iroha fully grows up, well, a boy can dream.)

* * *

Shisui knows that the Uchiha had never experienced the loss of their bloodline limit on one of their members, not like this. Not the Hyuuga's too, for that matter. Hyuuga Hiashi, the current Head of the Hyuuga clan, would have flipped if his daughter was born without the Byakugan.

But Shisui knows that it was merely matter of time. The reason they didn't till now was simply because they encouraged in-clan marriages. There were always those who don't inherit clan techniques in other clans. The Naras, the Akimichis, the Yamanakas, even the Inuzukas had their exceptions. And they didn't react like this.

(There was a reason the Ino-Shika-Cho are so tightly connected, you know. They frequently married each other, and there were a few Nara's with golden hair, Akimichis with lilac eyes, and Yamanakas with spiky ponytails. That was how genes worked, for _God's_ sake. As long as they didn't probe for other clan's techniques, there was no problem.)

Itachi seemed to think that the problem was Iroha simply not having the Sharingan. Which was very hypocritical of the Elders if it was true; after all, not all Uchihas manage to activate their Sharingan.

(And isn't it cruel that they need a traumatic experience to unlock their most valued bloodline limit? No Uchiha feels pride when he activates the Sharingan for the first time. Shisui remembers the smell of blood, the agony, the pain, the sorrow, and the guilt - the mind-numbing _guilt _that if he had unlocked it faster, she would not have _died - _as he watched the life literally bleed our from his teammate.

And the worse part is that he remembers it in photographic detail.

_The shallow breathing, the distortion on her face, her eyelashes fluttering slightly, and her eyes, gods, her eyes, as it becomes duller and duller-_

Sometimes he hates his eyes.)

Shisui thought that they might be afraid about having a new bloodline, different from the Sharingan yet stemmed from it.

_Cowards._

But he is afraid too, and hopes he is wrong, not because of the Sharingan's legacy, but for Iroha, for Sasuke, and for his too-loving-for-his-own-good cousin, because he sure is not the only one who will have that theory. Orochimaru is still lurking somewhere outside(he still cannot believe that the Sandaime actually failed to kill him) and he cannot imagine the creepy bastard _not_ wanting to investigate this. And there is also Danzo, the power-hungry war hawk whom Shisui just simply cannot trust completely, and his fear grows.

Itachi is a genin now, and he will soon be chunin, he is so talented not to, then he will start to feel the pressure between the clan and the village more than now. Shisui knows there are talks of coup d'etat in the Clan, and thinks it is stupid, _stupid_, that they think the Uchiha will not perish under war against the whole _village_, and knows that Itachi will not react well.

And even as he fears for Iroha, he also hopes that maybe that her presence might stop the Elders from acting rash, because well, if their bloodline might die just by genetic complications, it would be extremely stupid to start a coup d'etat that will lead to an earlier demise.

So he wonders. Wonders about the baby with glittering golden eyes, the color for the loyalties, the rich, and the deities, and yet is despised and feared by the clan. He wonders if she will be the reason for the clan to preserve themselves, or the reason for others to attack their clan.

He sincerely hopes that it is the former, because Shisui is optimistic, he always have been.

But still, he knows that all things might just go to hell, no matter what he hopes.


	3. Blue

**DISCLAIMER:** None of the Naruto characters are mine, they are all Kishimoto's. I'm just messing around with them. Oh, but the OC is mine.

**A/N:** Hi! Thanks for reading this, and thank you for the reviews! It really motivates my writing! Iroha's abilities are shown in this chapter, and it is a bit different from the Sharingan (or so I think.) Sasuke was 3 years old when Iroha was born:) Enjoy-

**Chapter 2: Blue**

Iroha sees the world in two ways.

_I see a blue world,_ she says, _And it is sometimes too much._

* * *

Iroha is special. She is special in so many levels that leaves Itachi _terrified. _He is a prodigy, a chunin at ten, but his sister is just two years old. Sasuke is now five, which is not much better in Itachi's opinion, not even in the academy yet. He is not _enough_, Itachi thinks desperately, as he notices the barely concealed hostility in the clan's faces at his sister, he cannot protect them like this.

Shisui would whack his head, he knows, and tell him that he is a child too, in the meager age of ten, but Itachi is a genius, he is supposed to be _better_. Father had made it very clear since he was young, and that expectation grew after Iroha's birth. Mother hates it, he has heard enough arguments that ends in tears and rage, but Father insists and he doesn't protest. Because he is the eldest, the future will be resting on his shoulders - if not already - and he cannot be weak.

(And he knows what happens when he cannot protect someone - he unlocked his Sharingan at eight - and he isn't sure his sanity will remain intact if something like that happens to his siblings.

_Blood slowly pooling beneath the body, the gasp of pain, the look of horror on his face, they were supposed to be a team, weren't they? They weren't supposed to leave only him alive. They were supposed to come back _together_-_

Itachi couldn't help but wonder sometimes how this is something he should be proud of. And he is quite sure Shisui agrees.)

* * *

He realizes his sister is somehow different when the girl starts to talk.

She is barely two, just a toddler, and even though Itachi knows that he too was perfectly articulate at that age, Sasuke wasn't, and it is mildly disconcerting to watch another prodigy in the family. Shisui looked amused and a bit horrified, muttering something about genius overloads, but still, it is both a relief and another reason to worry, because in this world, being a genius is both a blessing and a curse.

Then he knows she is special when she refuses to open her eyes one day.

At first he thinks that it is because their color, the looks the others visiting the main house give her, her _father _gives her, but he soon realizes that that's not it, because she keeps them closed even in her own room, alone. And she doesn't stumble, doesn't hesitate in every move even though she shouldn't be able to see.

"Imouto, why are you closing your eyes?"

"There is too much to see, Itachi-nii," and Itachi, in his puzzlement, looks around, because even though the house is thoroughly decorated, there is certainly _not_ much to see.

"There are so many colors." That doesn't make sense too, because their house is sensibly designed, but not colorful, and almost everything is black and grey and white, with some hints of red and yellow here and there.

"I don't understand, Iroha. What colors do you see?"

"You don't know? You don't see?"

Itachi finds himself shaking his head, forgetting that Iroha is _closing her eyes,_ but she somehow knows that he answered the negative and starts to cry.

"Is...is it my eyes? It it because of it that I... see things?"

And Itachi, who has absolutely no idea what 'things' is, just sits there like an idiot, because while Uchiha Itachi is many things, he is _not_ good at comforting crying girls. He tentatively reaches out to hug her only for her to avoid his hands, and _honestly she is still _closing _her eyes what the fuck-_ and then it hits him and he finally gets an inkling of just what she might be seeing.

"Imouto, tell me what you see."

At his firm voice, Iroha visibly steels herself, then wipes her tears with her sleeve, and Itachi isn't sure if he should cry or laugh at her answer.

"I see a blue world, Itachi-nii. Everything and Everyone is _blue_."

* * *

"Maybe she could be a civilian." He muses on the private training ground that night, after an intense spar with Shisui, panting heavily. "Me and Sasuke is both going to be a shinobi, it is not rare even for the Uchiha to let a third child to live a civilian life."

His cousin sends him a deadpan look, lying on the ground but not as out of breath as Itachi. "She is from the _main house,_ cousin mine, an Uchiha who can literally _see_ _chakra_. I somehow don't think Uncle Fugaku would approve that scenario."

The mention of his father wipes the emotion from Itachi's face, and Shisui's expression goes grim. "That bad?"

"Iroha asked me if that is why Father hates her." Itachi quietly confesses. He remembers his sister, hiccuping slightly, asking if her eyes is the reason why Father doesn't like to even look at her. He recalls as words choked on his throat, unable to assure her that Father doesn't hate her, that her eyes isn't the reason, because it sort of _is_ the reason (only in a different way). "And I don't think father reacted well to the fact that Iroha can see chakra without using any jutsus." To be honest, Itachi thinks that Father might have freaked out, spooked at the sheer _potential_ his daughter possesses.

"You said she can see literally _any_ chakra?"

"She sees the world in two ways, Shisui. I don't think she can control it yet, but when she sees the 'chakra world', she sees everything in blue. Even the air."

Shisui's breath hitches.

"_Nature Chakra_. I didn't know if that was even _possible_."

"Me neither."

"Gods, Itachi, that is so _brilliant_ that I can't even-"

"It will be a secret. No one will know but our immediate family and you."

"_What?_"

Shisui sits up, with a retort in his lips, but then he understands. This, this was what he was afraid of. Iroha might as well be a start of a new bloodline limit, and it will turn all Uchiha on her. And her ability... she might as well paint a target on her back and it will be less dangerous. He understands the decision, but...

"So what will you do? Just tell her that it is a secret? To not tell anyone?"

Itachi gives him the _Look _and he winces and stops the sarcasm from his voice.

"...She will pretend she is blind. Iroha can see the 'chakra world' through her eyelids, she can practically see with her eyes covered and closed. Father is... Father is thinking to make her cover her eyes permanently, and explain her awareness that she is a sensor."

"A blind sensor?"

"Yes, we will also include the story that her eye color is caused by mutated chakra coils in her eyes, which slowly took her sight away, leaving her blind."

Well, Shisui thinks, that is a whole neat lie, but it explains the odd eye color in a way that subtly hints that is a birth complication, nothing more, and most blind ninjas are sensor types anyway, so it makes sense.

"I now get why you want little Iroha-chan to live a civilian."

Itachi looks at his best friend, sees the wistfulness and the slight sorrow in his eyes even as he smiles, and nods.

* * *

Iroha sees two worlds.

And now one is taken away, and she is left with only one color.

Everything is blue now, in all different shades, but still, _blue._

Itachi-nii explained why this was necessary, that her abilities can lead her to dangerous situations, so she needs to tell people that she is blind, but she hates it. Hates that she cannot see is the normal world, hates that she cannot_ be_ normal, hates the mutterings of the clansmen that the '_freak_' is now blind, as if she deserved it.

_I am not a freak._ She tells her Sasuke-nii one day, because Itachi-nii is so busy now that he is chunin. Sasuke-nii 's face goes cold in protective anger, and it warms Iroha from the inside because he cares, he always did, and he hugs her, warm and tight.

_You are not a freak. You are my sister, you are _family_._

Family.

Iroha thinks she will never get tired from hearing that word.


	4. Red

**DISCLAIMER:** None of the Naruto characters are mine, they are all Kishimoto's. I'm just messing around with them. Oh, but the OC is mine.

**WARNINGS: **Civilians being assholes, mentions of child abuse, Fugaku is a _very shitty _father, Itachi angst, Iroha angst, Naruto angst, Maybe I should have changed the genre to Angst, Oh, and Kakashi angst.

**A/N: **Loooong chapter! Who knew 6000 words were this long? Thank you for all your reviews:-) About your concerns of Iroha's eyes, she does take off the bandages when there is no one but her family. I know that Iroha might look too mature for her age, but remember that she is a prodigy at least in brains, and is in par with Itachi and Kakashi. And living in the Uchiha compound as a pariah of sorts can do wonders to one's maturity. Thanks for reading, and enjoy:)

**Chapter 3: Red**

Iroha knows her eyes are not normal, has known it ever since she began to understand words. The look in her Father's eyes every time he looks her in the eyes was a dead giveaway, too. His chakra - she knows now that it is the name of the blue things - agitated flickering and wavering rapidly, and she could see it, and it scared her. It still does. She knew he was her Father, it was only logical because Itachi and Sasuke were her brothers and they called him Father, but he never seemed to hold any affection to her. It left her confused, lost, and hurt, because even when he scolds Sasuke during dinner because of some ill-timed comment, his chakra remains peaceful. Never to her though. Her mere presence seems to incense him, anger him, or cause whatever emotion that causes his chakra to waver like that, and she resents it. It wasn't like she wanted to have different eyes.

(And it hurts, because honestly she likes her golden orbs, likes it but hates it at the same time. Her Mother always tells her that her eyes are beautiful, that she loves her for it, that she does not wish her to change, and she believes her. She does.

But sometimes, when she notices her mother's tired lines, the twitching of her muscles when a man outside whispers that she is the 'Freak Uchiha', the sorrow as she regards her husband - her Father - she wishes she had dark eyes. Like Mother, Father and Itachi-nii, Sasuke-nii and Shisui-nii and the rest of the clan.

Then maybe Father will look at her with peace, too. Mother will not be sad. Itachi-nii and Sasuke-nii i will not try to convince her that her eyes doesn't matter, she's _family_.

She knows she is family.

But why couldn't Father even_ look_ at her if she really is?)

* * *

When she learned the blue world that was always just _there_ is not something she is supposed to see, she panics, the word _freak_ chanting in her brain, and just feels...resigned.

Maybe she isn't destined to be normal. Maybe this is just the way she is. Different. Weird. Abnormal.

_Special,_ her Mother and brothers assure her, but they still hand her the bandage to cover her eyes, away from other's sight, away from the world.

Pity, she thinks, when the only things she can see is now blue.

She loves colors after all.

(Technically, she is not forbidden to get rid of the bandages inside her house when there are no outsiders, and the first thing she does when she goes to her room is rip them away. Because it irritates her, the constant lack of normal sight, and seeing in chakra _might_ be useful for shinobi but is quite hard to distinguish things in normal, everyday life.

Honestly, the toothpastes all have nearly the same shade of blue, and it even feels nearly the same until you put it in your mouth, and she really doesn't like her brother's pine-flavored one.

She likes strawberries, not pine.

Watching the world behind the bandages is sometimes like wearing a color lens. Just... dizzier. And more confusing.

Father said meditation will help, so she tries, but isn't sure what she should accomplish through it. And it isn't like Father is being actually supportive. Father's chakra wavers more after she put on the bandages around her face to cover her eyes. But that can't be anger, can it? It was what he wanted in the first place.

How can he be angry at her any _more_?)

* * *

She realizes that she doesn't only _see _chakra when she sees Itachi-nii coming home after an especially long mission.

Itachi is eleven now, and he is rarely home. Even when he does, he looks tired, muscle tense and face blank, and reeks of blood and dirt and sorrow. Sorrow. She is sure that is not a smell. But she can smell it, taste it in the air as it looms over Itachi like a ghost.

Then she notices that the color around Itachi seems a little...black.

Dark blue, maybe, but still, nearly black.

And it smells like sadness and copper, like failure and doubt, and...she recognizes the pattern that his chakra wavers. It is exactly the same way as Father's when he sees her bandages, her eyes. Then it hits her, just what that emotion is.

_Guilt_, something whispers in the back of her mind.

Bone-deep, unquenchable _guilt_.

And it frightens Iroha, seeing her brother like this, immersed in his own darkness, so she reaches out, a bit tentatively.

"Itachi-nii?"

Itachi's head snaps up, his face void with emotion, blank as a doll, but still, he looks at her and his body relaxes a bit, and the black soothes into a more lighter shade of blue. But it still smells of sorrow, the feeling so deep, and she slowly, apprehensively, reaches out to touch as it flickers once more. It's not like she actually thinks that she could touch it, it's more of a symbolic gesture to herself, a wish, a hope that she could take some of the pain away-

A spark, a jolt, and Iroha _screams_.

_Blood, blood everywhere, and his - or is it her? - arm throbs like mad, but he doesn't notice because there is a kunai flying right at his face. He crouches to avoid it, grits his teeth as the movement aggravates his already injured arm, and throws a shuriken right to the man's eye. It misses a bit, but still manages to cut his cheek, deep enough that the man screams in fury and pain, and the blood drips all over his face. A fireball, coming out of his throat, a smell of burning flesh, and another scream of agony passes his numb ears. His eyes are spinning, taking in the rest of the enemy, half of them dead, a few with mortal injury, one barely standing, and two alive. He glances at his comrades, Hawk has a slash on his back, Horse limping and bleeding heavily, Boar with scratches and exhausted, and himself, his right arm dangling uselessly and his chakra levels low. And Dove, the newest in the bunch just like him, lies on the ground, not even twitching, and blood is pooling around his stomach, and he is dead, dead, dead-_

"-roha! Iroha!"

"-God, what happened-"

"Itachi, what-"

"Iroha!"

She slowly blinks her eyes, dazed and exhausted, her throat raw from screaming. Her family is huddled around her, Sasuke looking like he just got out of a nightmare, Mother's face tight with worry, and even Father looks haunted. Odd, she thinks. It wasn't like Father to look at her with that much worry. But Itachi looks so scared, and so horrified, that she stops dwelling at her Father and focuses on her brother.

"Iroha, what happened?"

Mother's voice is soft, wavering in concern, and Sasuke hands her a glass of water. The cold liquid is soothing on her hurting throat, and she gulps it down readily as she croaks out a response.

"I, I think I can touch chakra."

The room stills. Father's face is stone-hard, and Mother gasps and Sasuke looks baffled at the concept.

"But that isn't supposed to be possible. You've never mentioned this before."

"I, I actually didn't know I could do it till now."

Sasuke crunches his face in thought, and Itachi is just sitting there, blank and shocked and speechless that makes Iroha reach out for him, and he _flinches_.

"I..Itachi-nii?"

Her voice goes timid, hurt, because it is the first time her brother avoided her touch, and she is scared she hurt him by touching his chakra, but then Itachi hugs her, warm and awkward and too tight and too desperate.

"Never do that again, imouto. Never. Do you hear me? _Never again._"

His voice is pleading, and Iroha feels her eldest brother's hands shaking slightly on her back. She closes her eyes, drained, and remembers the body dead on the ground, the stench or blood still in the air. But she notices that his chakra is significantly less darker now, and smiles despite herself.

"It's okay, Itachi-nii. I'm okay."

It was not an answer Itachi was looking for, and he frowns slightly, but their father's voice cut through the siblings like a kunai.

"I think there is more to the story than that you can simply touch chakra, Iroha."

Iroha stiffens a bit at her father's tone, cold and slicing, and Itachi holds her a bit more tightly, and she leans into him and mutters,

"It hurt."

_Not physically_, but Father didn't need to know that, so she just closes her eyes and drift off to exhausted sleep.

_And I saw his memories. I saw someone die._

* * *

It was like someone was touching his soul.

Chakra is part of a person, his soul and body altogether, he knows that, but nothing could explain the sensation of someone _touching_ it. No. It is more intimate, more bone-deep that any other things he felt, more intense than the Sharingan being activated for the first time. It was like someone caressing his beating, bleeding, open heart with soft fingers, and it is not quite pain but it's no pleasure either, just something tender achingly genuine.

Then the scream started.

He could feel it, feel his darkest emotions flooding through the connection to his little sister, away from him, freeing him. It was soothing, therapeutic, and he felt lighter than he ever had for months, but it was costing him his sister. His baby sister. He pulled himself out of her grasp in panic, expecting whatever was going on to stop when they lose physical contact, but no, Iroha just collapsed to the floor, her screams piercing the air. The door slammed, and Father ran out from his room with his eyes flashing in red, his frantic face contorted in worry and fury.

"Was is it? Is it her eyes? Is she hurt?"

Itachi shook his head, numb from both shock and worry, and his father crouches beside Iroha, not daring to touch, not knowing what's wrong. Mother soon came flying down the stairs, with Sasuke next to her, and Iroha's screams subsides, reducing to harsh coughs. Her eyes, free from the bandages as they are home, are unfocused and gleaming, and her body limp. Mother cradled her body to her bosom as Sasuke ran to get water, and Itachi couldn't bring himself to speak. His father's face is grim, worry evident, but then Iroha blinks, her pupils regaining some focus, and all those emotions are gone behind a mask.

Gods, he hated when his father did that to Iroha.

And his sister stares at father, panting slightly, face white, obviously exhausted, but trying to find at least a trace of his emotions, then just shuts down as turns to Itachi. And Itachi notices his father's black face waver for a moment as Iroha looks away.

(He sometimes wishes that his father would just be more honest with his emotions.

Shisui gave him his best deadpan look and told him he should look at the mirror. )

Then his sister reaches out to him, and he flinches because the last time she touched him he _hurt_ her, but she looks so dejected, so confused at it that he couldn't stop himself from hugging her.

(Because she is _alive_, unharmed, and not many are after screaming before him.)

* * *

Iroha is 3 years old when Sasuke starts the academy.

She doesn't exactly like being home alone when Mother is attending to other businesses, (but at least she isn't always assigned a babysitter, since after the news of her blindness the hostility of the clan somewhat subsided) but Sasuke is so honestly excited at the concept that she just smiles and wave at his parting back in fake cheer in the morning.

It is not like she hates being alone, no. She likes the quiet, calm days just spent in the house, reading in her room or meditating, but sometimes she wants out. To be out of the clan compound, because honestly, she is _sick_ of the clan. Three years since her birth and they still aren't ready to accept her as a human being.

She is sick of her Father's guilt, too. He is the Clan Head, and if he can't make the rest of the clan to be more accustomed to her, who can? Iroha doesn't know clan politics well, but even she knows that his treatment towards her affects the whole clan.

(And it is not only her, she thinks. Their Father's constant comparing between the brothers had lead Sasuke having the urge to prove himself, but Itachi is not someone who can be overcome easily. Sasuke is talented, that is a fact, but still the clan treats him as a younger brother of 'the' Uchiha Itachi, and for all the love that Sasuke has for Itachi, he hates it.

That's probably why he is so excited to go the Academy, Iroha muses. He hopes to be viewed as Uchiha Sasuke, not the brother of Itachi.)

She_ is_ intelligent than most children her age, she knows, (Shisui-nii was quite convinced that there was something like a prodigy-gene in the family) but she is still young. And her father is a difficult person to read, even with her chakra-seeing eyes. All she can feel, even with her steadily improving ability to read emotions from chakra, is guilt and anger and the sense of failure, and she isn't sure what to make of it. If he feels guilty, why doesn't he rectify the situation and make it better?

But no matter, she decides soon enough. She will not care what her father feels about her, because apparently her father doesn't care about what_ she_ feels. And that's that. She refuses to read more into his chakra. (That doesn't mean that every avoidance is any less hurtful but still, she will adjust.)

The clansmen still look at her with mock-pity and wariness, the younger ones not even bothering to hide their whispers. It is somewhat bitterly amusing, thinking that technically they should be calling her _hime_ since she is from the main house, and she learned long ago not to be hurt by it, but it stills annoys and angers her.

So what if she doesn't have the onyx eyes? What if she doesn't even have the possibility to have the Sharingan? Who cares? Why is it their business anyway?

It isn't like a lot of them do, anyway. Only the most talented, the most purest Uchiha are bestowed with their valued bloodline limit.

_But all of the main house had unlocked it through all those years, _a treacherous voice whispers inside her head, _the ones that are the purest Uchiha._

_I am the purest Uchiha too,_ she angrily thinks back, _My lineage is the same with Itachi-nii and Sasuke-nii._

_But that's the point, isn't it? __That's why you are not normal. You have the blood, but not the bloodline. _And Iroha decides she hates being intelligent when her conscious disagrees with her.

_The hell with the bloodline._ She nearly snarls toward her inner voice. _I'll show them. I will show them that I do not need the Sharingan to be an Uchiha. That I don't need to be the same with them to be an Uchiha. I will be powerful in my own right, and I will hold my name in pride._

* * *

The day she meets the another 'freak' in the village is the first time she goes out of the compound alone. She is nearly four now, and is used to the bandages enough to pull the blind act effortlessly, and Sasuke had forgotten his bento box in morning haste.

Sasuke was changing, and Iroha wasn't sure if it was a good thing. He was still her sweet brother, he told her stories from the academy and let her watch him doing his homework, but he became somewhat arrogant and more self-conscious at the same time. And he has _fangirls._ Iroha suppresses a shudder, because even if she knows that his brother is good-looking in an aesthetic sense, that's just...gross. Sasuke detests them, but Iroha secretly thinks that if it were not their noisy, tactless antics, Sasuke might be a bit flattered by all the attention focused to himself. Heaven knows they both don't get it at home.

(It isn't like Iroha is jealous of Itachi, not in the way Sasuke is, but still, seeing Father look at Itachi with a proud glint in his eye when he can't even stand to look at her properly doesn't sit well in her stomach.

And Sasuke, he deserves better, Iroha thinks. He is smart, talented, driven, and tries to impress again and again, but Father doesn't even try to deem him more than 'acceptable' even at his best. Usually he is just 'not good enough', and Iroha thinks she could hate him, if he is not her Father.)

She braces herself, because _fangirls,_ and if she is honest to herself she isn't sure how the kids in the academy will react to her apparent blindness, and isn't keen to find out. She hugs the bento-box closer, full of fresh tomatoes and onigiri that Sasuke loves, and steps towards the academy building.

It is lunchtime in the Academy, and kids are all lounging outside, huddled in little groups, and Iroha was at a loss how to find her brother. Is he even outside? Sasuke didn't mention he had any friends that he hangs out with, so somehow she doubts that he will be in the middle of the courtyard. And he doesn't have lunch with him, so it was probably logical to think that he remained in the classroom. Problem is, she doesn't know where Sasuke's classroom is.

_Go inside, find a teacher, ask him. Or her._ It's a good plan, she decides, and heads to the entrance only to be nearly knocked down by a blob of blue, a little taller than her but not by much, and so bright it hurts her eyes. It glows like fire, and smells like sunshine, as its core is...Iroha blinks. She wants to rub her eyes but remembers she is - supposed to be - blind. So she just blinks again.

_Red,_ she thinks, and it truly is odd because it wasn't like anything she's seen before. Not tinges of other colors mixed with blue, but clear red, somewhere between crimson and rose. And it feels hot and powerful and curiously, angry. Iroha wonders if a certain body part could have a different emotion with the rest of the body because the rest is bright blue, radiating with excitement, as the kid - _boy_ \- shouts out a "Sorry!" and runs out. She just stands there, a little dazed and interest piqued, as she gazes behind the boy with red chakra in his stomach.

"NARUTO!"

A shout makes her let out a startled sound, jolting a bit, and she whirls around to see a tall man, probably a teacher, seething at the bright ball of a boy who was already out of sight. Then he crouches down to match her height, and asks gently,

"Are you okay, miss? I'm sorry that brat nearly made you fall down."

"I'm okay, thank you."

He chuckles a bit, and Iroha takes the chance to ask about her brother's whereabouts. As it turns out, the man is called Mizuki, he is one of the teachers in the academy and he didn't know where Sasuke is, but volunteered to take her to his classroom where she might find him. It was obvious that he thought she was blind and needs help to find the way, and Iroha doesn't bother to tell him that she is capable of sensing.

He asks her a lot of questions while heading to the classroom, and seems rather curious about her eyes - though he seemed to think that he was being subtle about it - and it makes her quite uncomfortable. His chakra felt like at least his curiosity wasn't fake, but there was a malicious touch in it that Iroha couldn't exactly name or fathom. Itachi always said that if someone becomes overly interested in her eyes, she should be more careful, so she pretends that she doesn't see the stairs in front of her and bumps into it, letting out a startled cry. She was becoming better at acting.

After that stunt, Mizuki becomes less inquisitive - which made the whole thing even more suspicious, so she internally sighs in relief and lets him guide her up the staircase to Sasuke's classroom.

"Iroha? What are you doing here?"

"You forgot your bento, Sasuke-nii. Mother told me to deliver it to you."

Sasuke was surrounded by girls, who seemed to be trying to make him eat with them, and few of their chakra bristled in annoyance when Sasuke called out to her and walked towards her. Then when it became obvious that she was his biological sister, they became squealing about how cute she was, and how Sasuke would be _such_ a cool and nice brother. It was a bit amusing till one girl loudly commented about the 'poor blind girl', and that Sasuke was so sweet to take care of his 'unfortunate' sister. Iroha's face went blank as Sasuke's chakra began to flicker dangerously, and the classroom goes quiet.

"_What _did you just say?"

"S, Sasuke-kun! I was just-, it isn't like it's wrong-"

Sensing that Sasuke was about to do something angry and undoubtedly damaging, Iroha stands a little straighter and said in her coldest voice,

"You might be blinder than me if you think that my brother will even look at you after that comment."

Then she turns around, furiously trying to hold back her angry and embarrassed tears (she was grateful for the bandage) and walks out of the classroom without answering her brother calling out her name.

She was right, she really didn't want to find out other kids' reactions.

* * *

Her way home is quiet, with roads scarce of people, and Iroha is glad because she isn't sure she could deal with noisy streets with multiple chakra blobs right now. She wasn't some kid who needed pity, she was not even really blind for heaven's sake! She seethed, because it was either that or cry, and had just kicked a pebble for good measure when she heard a low hiss in pain and some shouting.

She pauses, curious but apprehensive (she didn't want to get in trouble), and cautiously looks around. She could sense a flood of negative emotions through the chakra in the air, and there was another loud yelp of a child, as if..., she gasps at the realization, as if someone had kicked a kid in the stomach. She turns toward the sound, attempting to run towards it, but remembers that she is only three, she should act blind, and she has no skill whatsoever to fight against the aggressors. Then she hears the word. 'Demon.' 'Freak.'

Her insides grow cold, and she takes a bated breath, panic covering her senses for a moment. And she knows now that she couldn't just walk away, because it could be her that's hurting, because she is a freak too, and she just can't. So she slowly, carefully edges toward the alley, her limbs trembling.

Flaring her chakra twice as to signal an emergency, (Itachi taught her how to do it) she creeps towards the sound, only to be horrified, because there are several fully grown, bulky men kicking and swearing a child that looks barely older than her. The men's chakra are oozing with malicious glee, and Iroha wants to vomit, but she swallows and hides, not risking being seen. She focuses on the boy, trying to make sure that he is still breathing, then notices the familiar sense of chakra and the shade of red on his belly that makes her jolt is shock. It was that boy who ran past her in front of the academy. The fact that she had met the victim, albeit fleetingly, increased her horror, and Iroha tries not to sob in anger and fear as she prays for help to arrive quickly. Honestly, this is a shinobi village, there must have been a patrolling ninja who noticed her chakra flare-

"Maa, maa, what is happening here?"

A voice cuts through the scene, making the men pause and Iroha to snap up, and Iroha immediately notices that this slouching, seemingly relaxed man is a shinobi - his chakra is more controlled, more powerful and greater in quantity - and nearly cries out in relief. He looks quite private, he seems to be wearing a mask - his chakra of the lower half of the face is a bit blurry as his whole body is covered in clothes - and he is hiding one of his eyes, too. His gaze darts over the scene (and it's weird because one of his eyes feels familiar, but she is sure she never met him) and his chakra grows agitated, furious, as the blue gains a silvery tinge, and his lazy demeanor disappears into a dangerous, deadly anger.

"...Naruto."

His voice is choked, and Iroha briefly wonders if they are acquainted, because that sort of grief feels _personal_. Then in a split second, the man is in front of the boy, clutching the one who was kicking him by the scuff of the neck and _growls_.

"_What_ do you think you are doing, hmm?"

The man gulps, his face loosing all color as the killing intent seeps from the shinobi, and Iroha shivers and gasps, because it is affecting her too - then the tall ninja glances at her, and the air lightens a bit just around her, allowing her to breathe.

"It is quite illegal and immoral to hurt a harmless, young boy, you know?"

His voice was back to that laid back, relaxed tone, but Iroha could still hear the steel in his tone. The man held in his hands were trembling now, and Iroha watched in vicious satistfaction as he choked and cowered in fear. Serves him right.

"I believe that the Hokage would be very... _unimpressed _if I report this, don't you?"

"T..the Hokage? But man, this freak brat is the demon-"

CRACK-!

The wall behind the man cracked under the shinobi's fists and the ninja smiled. It felt entirely fake, even under that blurriness of the mask, and his chakra was nearly burning in his fury.

"Maa...I should not be surprised, but you really are stupid as you look."

He tosses the man to the ground, who stumbles away quickly. Then he half-heartedly raises two fingers and waves at them, slouched back yet intimidating as ever.

"I think that we can both agree that we shouldn't meet like this ever again, civilian-san."

He fake eye-smiled again. It was a bit disconcerting how he could look harmless and ever and lethal at the same time.

"Have a good day."

The gang of man nodded frantically and ran away, and Iroha hurried to the boy's side. She couldn't exactly see the blood nor the bruises with the bandages on, but his chakra on the skin were agitated and swirling red, rather than blue, attempting to heal the damage. How curious. He was breathing, but seemed to be unconscious.

"You are the one who flared the chakra."

Iroha nodded, trying to contain her tears. The men have said the words 'freak brat' with so much venom that it was refusing to get out of her head as if it was said to herself. She wanted to see Itachi-nii, his comforting silence, and his assurance that she is not abnormal, and it doesn't mattered to him even if she is. But Itachi was away in a mission again, and Mother would be so heartbroken on her behalf that she couldn't tell her.

The man slowly, tenderly gathered the boy in his arms, and Iroha assumed he was heading to the hospital.

"Is...is he going to be okay?"

"...You know him?"

Iroha shook her head, since seeing a person two times and a shouted out apology didn't count as having an acquaintance.

"I, I don't think I do, and I...I couldn't see, but it sounded, sounded like they were hurting him bad and-"

Her voice shook in a sob, and there was a faint sigh, and a hand comes to rest on her head, patting it slightly awkwardly.

"You did the right thing, kid. Can you walk alone to your house? You look pretty shaken."

Iroha stilled. The idea of walking alone the streets didn't seem a very good idea right now. The man must have noticed her discomfort (and fear), as his chakra flickered in a frantic movement as if he didn't have a single idea what to do with her.

Another sigh, then he asked,

"Where do you live?"

"The..the Uchiha compound, shinobi-san."

"Ah."

His chakra flickered again, and Iroha knew he recognized her. As what she didn't know, but he knew her. He sighed again, then in the next second, her hand was held in his, and he was asking if she was okay with a shunshin. His hands were warm, she noticed, covered in gloves, but still...warm. Blinking back tears, she nodded her consent, and was whisked away with him only leaving a trail of leaves.

* * *

Kakashi knew something was very wrong when he felt the flaring of chakra on his way to the academy. It was weak and clearly not practiced enough, and was screaming _child_ and _trouble. _He was on leave for three days, due to his injuries in the last mission, but he had ditched the hospital right away. He could take care of himself, he always have. _Yeah, see what a fabulous job you did, _a familiar voice sniped in his head but he ignored it. He was fine. (No, he wasn't.)

He had spent the majority of the morning by the memorial stone, unable to move away. He had been there a million times, and still it felt like taking a kunai to his stomach every time he sees it or leaves it. It was stupid, really, and Kakashi knew that his isn't healthy - _Understatement of the century -_ but he couldn't help it. There was nothing left for him to salvage, no one he loved left, and he was alone, alone, alone-

"Boss."

Except his nin-dogs. His partners, his last string to sanity, his last loved ones to protect, and he smiles at his pug as it flops on his belly.

"The pup?"

"In the Academy, I hope. If he causes any more trouble, I'm afraid Sandaime-sama won't have any hair left."

With that, he leans against the cenotaph, his eyes closed, and tiredly points out,

"And he is not my pup, Pakkun. He is sensei's."

"Your sensei was one of the pack. That makes him the pup of the pack, too. You know that."

"There is no pack."

_Not anymore._ Pakkun heard the unspoken sentence and huffed in annoyance.

"Boss, as long as you have us as your ninken, there is always a pack."

"Yes, with you and me."

There was a finality in his tone that made Pakkun to quiet down, and Kakashi reached out to scratch behind his ears. The pug sighed happily, and relaxed under his touch.

After a comfortable silence, Pakkun asked again.

"Aren't you going to see him today?"

Kakashi looked up to the sky. It was noon, and probably lunchtime in the academy. He always checked on Naruto when he was off duty, unable to reveal his true self (those council _fuckers_) but still, watching in the distance wasn't exactly forbidden. He wished he could have stayed longer in guarding duty, because then he would be Hound, not Hatake Kakashi, and he could care for him, provide him, not in a sense his teacher would have wanted, but...it was better than nothing. But after the boy entered the academy, the ANBU guards were taken down a notch - which meant that he was set out again in S-class and A-class missions as the Captain. Proficient ninja's couldn't be wasted, and they all have to give _something_ up for duty after all.

(And it made him bitter, oh so bitter, because look what good it did. His sensei was one of the best, and he was gone, gone for the sake of the village, and look what they are doing to his son. His only son, his only legacy left, sacrificed unknowingly for the safety of the people, and with Minato-sensei gone, no one even acknowledges it.)

He stretched a bit, and got up to his feet, Pakkun strolling behind him as he walked towards the academy. He will catch a glimpse of Naruto - he was probably busy pranking everybody anyways - and maybe buy a box of vegetables and some meat and leave it in the boy's house. God knows he should eat something more nutritious than ramen. And clean up a bit, too.

That was the plan. It was a perfect plan, actually, and Kakashi would have been more than happy to stick to it, until he felt that feeble flare of chakra.

But no, life has to show him again how he was failing his sensei and his kid, in the worst way possible.

Oh, Kakashi knew. Of course he did, he was a genius, quick in thinking. He knew the village hated the kid. He knew that sometimes that hatred showed in petty, malicious ways. The stores didn't sell him things, the restaurants refused to serve him, and people whispered and cursed the boy as he walked around the streets. He was aware of all that, but his hand were tied, since shinobi are not allowed to touch civilians unless they are violating the law. But he never thought that it will come down to this.

A little girl - probably blind if her bandages are any indication - was trembling behind the wall, where several men were surrounding a boy, kicking viciously. He caught sight of a blond hair, and that hideous orange jumpsuit, and his vision goes red.

How _dare_ they.

His brain goes blank as his anger makes everything he sees turns into a hazy red, and in the next moment, he was holding the pitiful excuse of a man in his hands and snarling at him, heavy killing intent filling the scene.

A small gasp shook him out of his murderous haze. He glanced to his side to see the girl gasping for breath, and he quickly controlled his aura to not affect the young girl. Satisfied at her calmed breathing, he returned his attention to the man held in his clutch, his murderous stance reducing back into a more relaxed mode.

It wouldn't do to kill the man, after all. Even if he desperately wanted to. The Hokage would have his head. Or maybe not. Heaven knows he is too useful to be disposed for something like this. But, that won't do, right? Minato - sensei would be so disappointed with him if he killed seven civilians, although on second thought, maybe he and Kushina themselves will rip them apart with their bare hands if they had seen what they did to Naruto.

Ah, but that was enough of him contemplating murder. There was a young girl trembling there after all, and it just wouldn't do to traumatized toddlers by spraying blood in their sight. They will all have plenty of their share later.

But a little warning would be necessary, Kakashi was sure of it.

After all was dealt with, albeit not as he wanted, he gingerly gathered the beaten boy up to his arms, swallowing his guilt and anger and various other emotions threatening to come out, and looked down at the blind child. She was visibly shaken, and he supposed that witnessing a intense beating of a young boy around her age could do that to a kid.

What he didn't anticipate, however, was the kid in question being Uchiha Iroha, the youngest of Fugaku and the baby sister of one of the newest and most brilliant addition of ANBU. He also remembered her to be deemed impossible to have the Sharingan despite being in the Main house, and how she was called a disgrace and a freak in the clan. That explained the extra panic at the scene, considering Naruto was also treated as such.

As the baby Uchiha tried to gather herself, Kakashi counted the odds of survival when he just left her to go home alone and tell the whole incident to her brother when he comes back from his latest mission. Possibly none. So he sighed again for good measure, and offered the still trembling girl his hand. She saved Naruto today, after all.

(And if her small, fragile hand tentatively holding his hand melted his heart a bit - because Fugaku might be a strong clan head, but a good father he is_ not - _no one was to know.)


	5. Bleak

**DISCLAIMER:** None of the Naruto characters are mine, they are all Kishimoto's. I'm just messing around with them. Oh, but the OC is mine.

**WARNINGS:** Iroha angst, Fugaku is a shitty father but he too has angst, Itachi & Shisui angst,

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone who faved/followed and read this story! And special thanks to those who reviewed! Reading reviews are starting to be my new hobby now:)

Due to her chakra/emotion sensing ability (damn, I need a name for this) Iroha is a bit of a empath. She is not yet fully developed, but she can absorb other's emotions via chakra (and memories), and is very sensitive to other's emotions. The reason her horror and pain when she saw Naruto being beat up is a bit excessive and personal is that her emotions were attuned with those of Naruto's at the moment, causing her terror to grow.

Enjoy:)

**Chapter 4: Bleak**

Iroha's training with her father begins when he hears about the incident.

The tall shinobi-san had taken her to the front of the Uchiha compound, explained the situation to the guards, patted her head once more, than promptly disappeared with the beaten boy in his arms. Iroha hoped he was okay, and he would, since none of the injuries were fatal.

Apparently Mother had noticed she was gone longer than she was supposed to, and was starting to worry when she came back. When she heard what happened, she pursed her lips in silent fury, and told her she did the right thing and that she was very brave, and was smart not to go headfirst into the situation. The praise had calmed Iroha a bit, but when she confessed to Mother that the people called him 'demon freak' and that had scared her too, she was trembling all over again. She cried herself to sleep that night, with Mother's soothing fingers on her hair.

The next morning, Father looked equally grave and angry, and she knew that it had something to do with yesterday's incident. She wasn't sure if Father would approve of her actions - all she did was just cower in the background after all - but he merely acknowledged that going into a situation like that unprepared would have been dangerous. And so she needed to be prepared.

It was a backhanded approval coming from her Father, and Iroha was so stunned at it that she nearly missed the part of her training if Itachi hadn't snapped up his head in alarm and Sasuke choked on his rice.

Considering that Itachi started his when he learned to walk and talk, Iroha _is _starting fairly late, but she was still nervous and a bit terrified at the idea. At the training itself or at her father she wasn't sure, but she had often witnessed Sasuke's training with Father (and rarely those of Itachi's) and she knew her father could be...intense, to say the least.

Frankly, Iroha wasn't even sure if she _wanted _to be a ninja.

Oh, she wanted to be powerful. She wanted to force the whole clan to acknowledge her, to say her name in pride, but she wasn't sure if being a ninja was the right career path for her. The idea that she could be hurt like that boy, Naruto, made her aware that she should be at least capable of protecting herself, but she isn't exactly shinobi material.

She knows what Father always tells her brothers, about containing their emotions, staying stoic and dignified, and prioritizing one's duty above all else. She is good at none of them, her chakra seeing abilities allowing her to be more sensitive to other's emotions, and she is certain she doesn't want to be detached like her father or brother. And...she swallows as she remembers Itachi's memories of his mission, with the stench of blood filling the air and the life leaving the pupils. She certainly isn't sure she wants to kill people as a profession.

But there isn't exactly a choice for her, is there?

The easiest target in the Uchiha main house, who doesn't even have the Sharingan, and the youngest sister of the Uchiha Itachi? Her being defenceless is just begging others to target her. No, she knows that she cannot stay that way, and that being a shinobi is the most obvious and viable solution.

That doesn't mean she has to like it, though.

* * *

They start with basic katas.

And Iroha realizes that her stamina _sucks_. Like, _really, really sucks._.

Not surprising, since she spends most of her days inside, reading books or meditating to control her vision, but still, she didn't know that she will be this bad. Her movements are clumsy and sluggish, and she keeps messing up her stances because observing others with chakra vision is so hard. And she needs to exercise more, because her body is not fit. Not at all. Soon she is panting with her muscles hurting all over, and wants to cry because this is the _first time_ her father gives her his full attention and she is_ failing._

Her legs tremble under her weight, and her vision sways, and she thinks she hears someone shouts her name frantically as everything goes black.

The last thing she feels is a large, warm hand steadying her falling body.

* * *

She wakes up in her room. She is clean, out of her sweaty clothes, and even her bandages are off that she blinks at the sudden influx of colors. She closes her eyes for a moment, and wishes her eyelids could stop her seeing chakra. It was annoying at times, never able to get away from all that blue.

She slowly lifted her body from the futon, her muscles aching and protesting in every move. Father must have carried her to her room, and she winced at the thought. Father would have been so disappointed at her, and she grimaced at the thought. Not that it was new, because Father probably would have been disappointed with her from the moment she was born, but still.

She sighs, and hesitates in front of her door. She had no idea how Father would react to her actions yesterday. Will he scold her? Look at her with cold disapproving glances like he does to Sasuke-nii? She doesn't care being compared with Itachi, frankly, she can even be a bit relieved for Sasuke's behalf. Since she was horrible at taijutsu, at least he won't be compared to his little sister, too.

Iroha knew that the fact that she is a genius - at least in brains - bothered Sasuke more than he wanted to admit. The way her intelligence was said to be par with Itachi bothered him, because well, Sasuke was smart, but he was not quite that level. But people didn't fawn over her brilliancy as they did on Itachi thanks to her eyes - _duh _\- so their relationship wasn't strained like that of the brothers. Which she was grateful, even though the reason behind it annoyed her.

But enough of this rambling thoughts, she decides, and picks up a bandaged from the neatly stacked ones in her closet. Deftly tying it around her eyes, she braces herself, and leaves her room. Hopefully Father isn't home yet.

The house is quiet, with Itachi out training and Sasuke in the academy, and Mother isn't anywhere to be seen. Iroha carefully pads out to the living room, only to find her Father looking over documents in his usual stoic demeanor. He doesn't look up, but his voice doesn't sound that angry when he speaks, and Iroha relaxes a bit.

"You're awake."

"Yes, Father."

Silence, then he pauses, and puts down the papers in his hands to raise his eyes to her. She fidgets, slightly, but stays her ground, only barely avoiding his gaze.

"You need to improve in your stamina."

She winces but nods. He is not wrong after all. At least his chakra isn't oozing in disappointment, which was somewhat confusing, but then, his emotions are so tightly reined at the moment that it is hard to read any of them.

"Yes, Father."

Father searches her face at her bland answer, and Iroha panics inside. Did she say something wrong? Was there anything else that she had to say?

"Iroha."

"Y, yes, Father?"

"I think that it is best for me to find another tutor for you."

_That_ catches Iroha so off guard that she actually snaps her eyes up to her Father's and stares. And she wants to cry, to protest, because she was just given _one_ chance, and he was casting her away already. One chance. And he taught Sasuke for _months._

She felt useless, scratch that, she _was_ useless. Not worth her Father's precious time. Her Father was a busy man, being the clan head and the head of the Military Police Force. It would be...illogical for him to use his time and effort to look after the blind Uchiha, the one who isn't good enough, and cannot be even if she wanted to.

But she was his daughter. _His only daughter._

His youngest child.

And it hurts, more than it should probably, and Iroha just stares hard at her Father's eyes behind the bandages and thinks bitterly that he wouldn't even know because her eyes are hidden.

(And she is bitter for another reason, because honestly, she didn't grow from the ground, she was born from Mother and Father, and her eyes would have come from their genes, so it is not as much as her fault but _theirs_. And Father acts like he doesn't want to do anything with her when all of it is also his fault.

_Or maybe_, a little voice whispers, _that exactly is the reason._)

She swallows, and considers her options. She could say no, she doesn't want another tutor, because frankly she really doesn't, or she could say yes, if that's what her Father is hoping for. But...

"Why?"

The question is out of her mouth before she even realizes she spoke, and her voice wavers a bit, but she wants - needs - an answer. She wants to know why.

"D..Do you think I am not good enough? Not, not enough for you to teach me?"

The words spill out of her tongue, half a sob and half a shout, and her body trembles from anger or sorrow, she doesn't know. But she is definitely crying now, her bandages soaking from her tears, and in her frustration, she rips them off to look her Father in the eyes. He looks faintly shocked, but his expression is carefully blank, and he stills a bit at her golden pupils staring right back at him, and averts his eyes. And Iroha wants to scream, to shout out her fury, but seeing her father unable to look her in the eye takes the whole fight out of her. She slumps.

"But I never will be, will I?"

With that whisper, she whirls around and heads straight to her room.

* * *

Uchiha Fugaku has a few regrets in his life.

(A few, yes, but deep ones. They might be less in numbers but are worse in depth that it haunts his soul and mind, that makes him to keep asking himself, '_what if?_')

His regrets choosing Mikoto as his betrothed, as a young boy who thought that she was the most beautiful girl that he has ever seen, because she deserved - deserves - better. Someone much, much better than him. She is a kind, caring sort of woman, not like him, and she deserved to meet a man like herself, who can be affectionate and warm, but she was stuck with him from the start, the stoic man who can't even buy her flowers without a concrete reason.

(And yet, he thanks the God that he did, because he loves her, only her for his whole life, and for some wonderful reason she actually loves him back, and he is forever grateful for the deities for sending her to him. So he never regrets marrying her. Never.)

His regrets for a boy who had an unusually kind demeanor for an Uchiha, who was an orphan, and who was an outcast. Always wearing those obnoxious goggles, he remembers, and regrets not paying more attention to him, regrets casting him away as other untalented kid. He remembers the day he died, when Minato came with a stricken face with only two kids, one with a swirling Sharingan that was_ not his._

He should have found a way to train the boy, he thinks, because maybe he died because he overlooked his talent, and opening the Sharingan at the age of thirteen is not an easy feat. He regrets, because every blood of the clansman feels like a failure, especially when one is a child. And he regrets because the boy didn't even have a caretaker to tell his death, to cry over his loss, and because the Elders focused on the transplanted Sharingan, not his death.

(He remembers Hatake, stone-faced and pale, standing before the council and insisting that it was a _gift_, that he will not give it up just because they insist that it was _theirs_. _It is not the Uchiha's,_ he had said,_ it is Obito's. _And Fugaku let the matter go despite the Elder's protests, because that eye was all that is left of the boy, no, _Obito_, it was his dying wish, and Uchiha Fugaku is at least an honorable man.)

He regrets not being able to save Minato and Kushina, because they were his friends, even though he would admit it, and they were good people, and Minato was a damn good Hokage. He regrets never saying that to him in person, because he was always bad at showing what he thought of other people other than disapproval and disdain, and he wishes he had just told him that he was good at the job, just once.

He regrets leaving Naruto to the council's hands, but frankly there was nothing he could do at that point, with the whole clan being accused for aiding the Kyuubi.(Sage, can people be really this _stupid_?) Mikoto being godmother wasn't enough for them to claim custody, and soon Naruto was not a boy but more of a political weapon between the clans. Then the council announced that for the jinchuuriki's safety, none of the past acquaintance of his late parents will be allowed interaction with him.

Mikoto cried herself dry that night, uncontrollable sobs shaking her body as she caressed the picture of her and Kushina together, both heavily pregnant with bright smiles on their faces. Because she loved the woman, they were comrades, best friends, who swore to each other that they will take care of their remaining families if something is to happen to them. And it broke her heart, to never see her again and is forced to break that promise.

(He later heard that Hatake nearly went wild at that piece of news, just a inch short from attacking the Third or taking Naruto and leave, until Sarutobi had named him the ANBU guard for Naruto. A cheap bargain, he had thought,but Hatake acquiesced, so that was that.

And if Mikoto sneaks the ANBU some extra household necessities and additional allowances with some of her cooking here and there, he doesn't comment.)

He regrets everything when it comes to Iroha.

(Oh, and how he had been overjoyed as he could be when Mikoto told him they were having another baby, this time a girl. A daughter. They had been so, so happy. Until she was actually born.)

Iroha came two weeks before she was due, and Itachi was out on a C-class mission when she was born. Sasuke was too young to be in the waiting room, so it was only Fugaku and a few more clansmen outside the birthing room. He was pacing when the medic came out, the Uchila family doctor, with a peculiar expression on her face as she approached him. He had gone white, fearing the worst, but was quickly assured that both of them were healthy before hearing the news.

His girl wasn't dark-eyed.

The clansmen that were with him blanched. He too was shocked, because he has never seen an Uchiha with a different eye-color in his life, even those from the branch houses. He knew that a few who were married to another major clan sometimes had babies like that, but never, never from the Main house.

He was barely aware of the angry mutterings coming from his cousins when they pulled him out of the hospital for an emergency clan meeting.

He hadn't even been able to _see_ the baby.

The Elders insisted that it must be an infidelity on Mikoto's part until Fugaku nearly destroyed the room with his Fire Dragon. Mikoto will never cheat on him, he knew, and the Elder's remaining grumblings ceased when a messenger from the hospital came and said that the baby looked exactly like an Uchiha except for her eyes.

Her _golden_ eyes.

That made the Elders panic, because there are no other prominent clans with a trait like that, which means that they couldn't blame this on Mikoto, and it led to the conclusion that the Sharingan can _fail to show in the next generation_. That the clan might be led to _self-destruction_. It causes a mass panic, and Fugaku listens numbly as his barely-a-day-old daughter is named as a disgrace, the shame of the clan, who _failed _to inherit the Sharingan despite her bloodline.

And he stayed silent.

Silent, when they talked about booting her off the clan, because he was a father, but he was also clan head, and it was true that her presence is a danger, a sign that their bloodline is failing, and he wished over and over that she wasn't born from him, the main house, because things would have been better if that was the case.

The clan refused to give her the family name, and he didn't go to meet his new daughter and his wife.

(And he regrets it so much now, but he was so angry, so frustrated at the situation because _this wasn't supposed to happen_, not for generations, but why now? Why him? Why his family? He failed his clan, his beloved wife, and his daughter, but he has to admit, his daughter _is_ a liability. He cannot deny that this incident would make the Elders more anxious than ever, and considering the current situation, that is not good.)

Then Itachi came home.

The boy, his eldest, is soft-hearted, and kind to a fault, but he is clever, so clever and is good at clan politics enough to convince the Elders to agree to bring the girl into the clan. Even if that came with a cost.

(Itachi nearly burned the Elders alive when they suggested to make her barren by force, and Fugaku secretly suspected that if Itachi becomes clan head, his daughter's fate will be changed for the better.)

And as much as Fugaku was proud of Itachi, he is worried, because even though she got the family name, she is already being called a disgrace, and it shames him. Shames him as a clan head and a father. Her being is like a spot on his clan, his reputation.

And his source of endless guilt, because nothing is actually the child's fault, and he should have protected her, shielded her from all disdain, but he didn't.

Mikoto had already named her when she finally came home, and she didn't even look at him for over a month. He wanted to be angry at it, because he was her husband, and wives to not ignore their husbands, but Mikoto might be soft in heart but she is stubborn, and Fugaku endures it.

(And because maybe in a dark corner of his mind, he knows that he deserves it.)

So he generally avoids her, and Mikoto resents him for it, but he can't bring himself to look into those golden eyes which are too intelligent for her age. Genius genes, Shisui had laughed, but it makes him far more harder to approach her, so he stands back, and watch her grow.

Then everything is thrown off axis again because Iroha_ sees chakra, _not exactly like the Byakugan which only sees chakra pathways, but_ every chakra existing in the world_. And this is extraordinary but is more dangerous, because this can mean a new bloodline, and the Elders nor the clan will never allow it. Never. And she would gain too much attention if this fact goes out to the public.

So he does another thing that he is sure he will regret someday, and hands his daughter bandages and tells her to cover her eyes.

_You are blind now_, he said, _You are to act blind, and you will never tell a soul about your abilities._

The clan had labeled her useless when she became 'blind', and even though it is certainly better that than being deemed a threat inside and out, it breaks his heart every time he sees her eyes covered. And it's guilt and sorrow and regret and fury combined to something that gnaws at his heart, so he refuses to let it weaken him, refuses to be wavered.

And now...

His daughter fears him, is wary of him, and maybe it's for the best, because he cannot be the father she probably wants, he is the clan head, will always be before being a father, so distance is good. Safe. For both of them.

(_Who was he kidding? _He hates it. He might have never been a doting father, but he loved his children in his own way until Iroha, and Sasuke might be a bit intimidated by him but he never _fears_ him. Not like Iroha does. Nor he tries to avoid him in every step. But it is his fault, isn't it? Iroha loves her brothers, and her mother, and it shows, but not to him. Never to him.)

But things are spiraling downward fast, because the village is still suspicious of them, and with Sarutobi not backing them up firmly as Fugaku wants him to, the situation is getting worse. Iroha's birth made the whole clan more anxious at the clan's stability, and yet the civilians talking about the 'Blind Uchiha' grates on their nerves because even if she is blind and a freak, she is still an Uchiha, she is _one of them_. More hostility, and with Danzo's - subtle - efforts to alienate them from the village working, the voices for a coup grows louder every day.

And he senses it, feels the ultimatum coming someday, and knows he should take action soon.

So he decides to train Iroha, because the girl needs to at least protect herself whether the inevitable happens or not. (Because Orochimaru would be ecstatic to experiment on a different eye-d Uchiha, and isn't _that_ a terrifying thought) But attempting to avoid and ignore his daughter wavering between being terrified by him - or his reaction - and trying to somehow impress him for a few hours tells him that this isn't going to work. (And damn him, he didn't even think that her stamina would be different from the boys) He and Iroha has too much issues going on for neither him or her to focus on what they are doing.

It was a credible reason, and a perfectly logical solution.

But why does he feel that he had done every damn thing wrong at the first place when she practically runs out of the room?

* * *

Shisui and Itachi agrees to teach Iroha frankly because they are the only ones who are aware about Iroha's eyes. They are both ANBU, and it basically means that they are both busy as hell and don't have time to babysit a pre-academy toddler, but it's _Iroha_, so they manage to time missions so that they aren't gone at the same time.

To say Sasuke was ecstatic to have his brother around was an understatement, and even though Shisui and Itachi's main pupil was Iroha, they were more than happy to help out their little brother, too. After all, the only reason Itachi didn't train with him every day was ANBU (and maybe Father), so with that excuse gone, he gladly spent time with both of his siblings.

Iroha, Itachi soon realizes, had too much to process in her vision that it hinders her concentration and slows her movements. It may be a liability, considering that shinobi must be prepared in everything, and lacking in taijutsu could be fatal, but it cannot be helped. Meditation helps a little, but having the nature as a whole as a distraction does act as a huge disadvantage. The fact that her stamina is lacking doesn't help, and even though they work on it, by making her run laps and exercise regularly, it is painfully obvious that Iroha will never be a hand-to-hand combat ninja. She might improve to be at least averagely acceptable, but Itachi considers teaching her kenjutsu early just to make up the lack of physical ability, and taijutsu will never be her forte.

At least her aim was halfway decent.

But she is brilliant, absolutely _brilliant _in chakra control, and Shisui watched in mock horror as the toddler succeed in water walking at her first try. It wasn't fair, really, because she can see the water's chakra, and Iroha admitted that it was just like walking on a squishy ground.

"She will be terrifying with some ninjutsu and genjutsu in her hands later." Shisui muttered, and Itachi quirked his lips in agreement.

Her chakra reserves were decent considering her age, and while she won't be a powerhouse, she will be at least half decent, and with her chakra control, that's quite formidable.

"Shisui-nii, why is some chakra blue, and some red?"

Shisui trips on his foot, the kunai that he was demonstrating flew from his hands off course, and Itachi snatches it from the air before it hits the tree. The two cousins exchange wary glances, because there is only one kind of red chakra that they know of, and it will be nearly impossible - and forbidden - to explain it to Iroha.

"Um, sweetheart, why do you ask?"

"That boy, the one that I saw a few days ago, he had red chakra only in his stomach."

And she wrinkles her face like it is bothering her, and it is so adorable that Shisui cannot resist tweaking her nose. Even if she was asking about a S-class secret of the village.

"And it felt weird, too, like it was not a part of his body. Why is that?"

Well, this could be a problem, Shisui muses, because they are forbidden to speak about it, and his cute baby cousin is too smart to ignore the whole thing. So he lowers his voice, and shifts his cheerful exterior into a more serious one.

"It is a secret, Iroha-chan. Never, ever speak about it to other people, okay? Not even to the boy himself. Do you understand?"

Iroha nods solemnly, but her curious air doesn't disappear, and Shisui won't be surprised if she works it out on her own given a few years. Well, it was already the village's worst kept secret anyway, at least to the adults, so unless someone breaches security and right-out tells her, or she shouts what she found out to the world, it won't be a problem.

"Is that why people called him...the demon brat?"

"I can't tell you that, sweetheart, it's a secret, remember?"

"...Like my eyes?"

Oh.

Her question is timid, almost a whisper, and Itachi's expression tightens in a way that usually indicates someone dying. Shisui also has to suppress the sudden fury that bubbles below, because Iroha is also called names inside and outside the clan, and the hurt is evident in the question.

"Iroha, look at me."

Her face looks up and Shisui tries to look at her eyes - which is hard since they are covered - and grasps her shoulder.

"You are not what they call you, Iroha. The reason Uncle and Itachi told you to cover your eyes is for your protection, not because what you have is unnatural. You are not abnormal. Don't forget that."

And Shisui's heart aches, because even though the young girl nods her head, she seems entirely unconvinced.

* * *

Itachi later comes to their private training grounds with a greatly troubled expression, and Shisui tenses automatically.

Shisui doesn't hate Uchiha Fugaku. His uncle wasn't exactly a great father, and he is especially doing the worst job with Iroha, but he was an efficient clan head, and an honorable man. But Itachi, who is not even _twelve_, is forced to spy on ANBU, and Shisui hates that decision. He resents it, resents that the village hates the clan, that the clan hates them back, and all the situation that forces kids between terribly dangerous and difficult situations.

Itachi would probably die first if all of this goes wrong.

(Or maybe he will kill everybody else. And Shisui isn't sure what's worse.)

The coup is still just an idea, a suggestion, but it is slowly gaining more power as the clans is being more and more ostracized. And this can lead to a civil war inside the village, which means_ bloodbath_.

(He isn't stupid enough to believe that the clan will survive if that happens, because even though they have the Sharingan and strong shinobi forces, they cannot win against a whole village and its ANBU. Honestly, Kakashi-taichou and Tenzo alone will be able to kill like half of the MPF, and not to mention other jounins, like Genma or Raido, and there is ROOT, which Danzo will be more than happy to order the Uchiha all killed.

The Sandaime Hokage himself was once called the God of Shinobi, and with other clan heads on his side, even the elite of Uchiha clan ninjas won't stand a chance.

Hell, he and Itachi was called the best of their generations, let alone the Uchiha, and he wouldn't last 30 minutes with six clan heads facing him at the same time.

And if they lose, the remnants of the clan will be undoubtedly eliminated.

No, the coup simply _cannot _happen. He will Kotoamatsukami the clan head just to prevent that if necessary. Even if he hopes that things will not go that bad.)

"What's wrong?"

Itachi shakes his head a bit, indicating that it had nothing to do with the coup or ANBU, and gracefully settles behind him, discreetly activating a privacy seal around them. Shisui merely raised his eyebrows at the action but didn't comment.

"Shisui, what do you know about Mizuki?"

"Mizuki?"

Shisui's voice is mildly incredulous, because he knows him to be a mere chunin, an instructor in the academy if his memories are right, and has nothing especially noticeable.

"Isn't he a teacher in the Academy? With that one with a scar on his nose, Iruka?"

"Yes, he is. Do you know anything else about him?"

"Why? What brought this?"

Itachi's face darkens in a way that catches Shisui's attention.

"Iroha told me that he was suspiciously nosy about her 'blindness'. Chunins, let alone academy teachers, don't have any reason to be curious about her state."

Shisui contemplates that piece of information, and understands Itachi's wariness, because Iroha's secret cannot be risked being found out, and a chunin teacher asking about it to a kid who is not even his student is strange. But still,

"Wasn't he just being considerate?"

"No, Iroha assured me that he was keep asking her about it until she pretended to bump into the stairs. After that, the questions stopped."

Now that was weird. If he was just a kind person looking out for a blind kid, he wouldn't have stopped when it became clear that she was indeed blind and was vulnerable.

"That's...quite suspicious."

Itachi nods tightly and Shisui can read the silent promise on his face.

Someone was being overly curious about Iroha, and he will find out who.

* * *

**A/N**: Urgh, I wanted to make Kakashi and Iroha meet again in this chapter, but failed :( And I know that Mizuki was nobody's spy in canon, but I'm going to change it, because I hate him for using kids for his own gain. And for the sake of my plot.

Well, I hoped you liked this and I hope you review!:))


	6. Shadow-Grey

**DISCLAIMER:** None of the Naruto characters are mine, they are all Kishimoto's. I'm just messing around with them. Oh, but the OC is mine.

**A/N: **Ugh, this took forever, and was soooooo hard to write... Anyways, enjoy:)

**Chapter 5: Shadow-Grey**

The memorial stone is usually void of visitors, and Kakashi is more than a little taken aback to see an familiar figure sitting in front of it. The fact that someone is there itself isn't astonishing, because the shinobi population in this village all had _someone _to grieve, but it was like 4 o'clock on the morning and normal people should be sleeping.

(Well, _he_ wasn't, because constant nightmares and amnesia doesn't exactly qualify as normal.)

He briefly considered turning on his heels and going back, but the figure had already sensed his presence - his shoulders tensed for a minute before relaxing again - so he merely slouched in his usual fashion and continued his pace.

"Taicho."

A quiet voice greeted him, and Kakashi inclined his head in acknowledgement. He notices the little white bouquet in front of the headstone, and is reminded that the boy's genin teammates were all dead, even the jounin sensei, killed in a single mission gone wrong.

Everyone has their ghosts, indeed.

"You are up late, Uchiha."

"...I would rather say it's early, captain."

Kakashi shrugged. "True."

Silence surrounded the two of them, neither willing to break it. It was comforting, in a sense, and Kakashi walked a little closer to sit beside him. It was ...strange, considering that he usually didn't actually appreciate company in a disturbed night, but this, this was familiar, like an ANBU mission, so Kakashi allowed himself to relax a little.

"I haven't thanked you properly yet, taicho."

"Thank me?"

The older man's eyebrow rose in a silent question and Itachi let out a humorless chuckle.

"My sister was very relieved that you came."

"Maa, maa, I have no idea what you are talking about, Itachi."

Itachi gave him an unimpressed stare, and Kakashi curved his eyes in a perfect bullshit smile. He didn't exactly want acknowledgement about his actions - it was nothing anyway, and the things he did were more for Naruto than the girl - but being thanked personally by the blank, stoic Uchiha Itachi was a novel experience (except for the occasional _thank you for saving my life in ANBU missions where 11-year-olds shouldn't be participating_) that he glanced briefly at the boy who just shook his head in mild exasperation and fell silent again.

Kakashi had a...fairly complicated relationship with the Uchiha clan. His eye under the hitai-ate stung faintly as he recalled the Uchiha council demanding him to return 'what was originally theirs'. If Fugaku had not let him go without a serious fight, he would have flipped, and who knows what he would have done. He was unstable, more then than now, and that time of his life was especially _difficult._

(He sometimes wondered why Uchiha Fugaku let him have Obito's eye. Not that he would have given it up - it was the last link to his former teammate, his present from his best friend, a best friend that he only acknowledged when he died - but still, it was unexpected.)

With a dead Uchiha genin teammate in his past and two Uchiha geniuses in his ANBU team, Kakashi was fairly accustomed to their action patterns, even if Obito was an oddball, Shisui feigns stupidity, and Itachi is too smart for his own good. Uchiha's are born prideful and they were all a bit apathetic. Apathetic to those who were not considered as their people.

Obito tried to be kind and caring to all of Konoha because his heart was big enough to consider the whole village as something to protect. He was goofy and silly, and emotional, Uchiha or not, but he too had that underlying apathy to enemy shinobi, a ruthlessness that shows that he_ doesn't care. _Shisui, with all his bright demeanor and easy-going nature, extends his sympathy to his family, teammates, and kids, but not many others. Itachi is apathetic to the world except his immediate family and Shisui, who is simply his brother at this point.

And Kakashi knows that it doesn't mean that they will not help in a scene of unjust violence - the Uchiha are the police force, that's what they_ do_ \- but the reason behind it will be a more of a technical version (_beating up a defenseless kid is illegal and morally wrong_) than an emotional one. (_Oh, no, the kid will be so hurt, that is so cruel and needs to be stopped.)_

But that baby Uchiha, she was different. Her fear came from sympathizing with Naruto, and that kind of frantic worry for a complete stranger is rare to most, let alone the Uchiha. And Kakashi is grateful to her, in a sense, because if she didn't flare that chakra, he would never have witnessed the scene, and Naruto wouldn't have been saved, and he really doesn't want to know what would have happened then. So he flops down beside Itachi and offers a sincere compliment, if a little backhanded.

"Flaring chakra like that at her age isn't easy, even if it wavered a lot."

Itachi's lips quirked in a half-smile.

"She is young. She will learn."

Yes, Kakashi thinks, staring up at the dim sky, she is and she will. The world will teach her far much than she will ever expect, more bad than good, and like all other kids that grow up to be shinobi, she will see blood and death and sorrow and loss. And he had seen what happens to a soft-hearted Uchiha once, and wonders if this one will meet a similar fate.

He sincerely hopes not, for the sake of Itachi's sanity.

(And for his too, if he is a bit more honest to himself)

* * *

"There is an annoying kid in my class."

A pause, an Itachi comments dryly,

"Only one? What about your whole herd of fangirls that I hear of?"

"They are _infuriating_, aniki. Annoying is too mild a term for them."

Iroha snorts into her miso soup as her brother puts his nose up in the air in indignation. Chuckling a little Itachi pokes him in the forehead with his finger.

"So, otouto, who is it?"

"A blond kid...I think his name was Naruto. He is so loud all the time and wears orange, aniki! _Orange!"_

The table went silent at the name. Sasuke, noticing that the reactions to his word were not at all what he expected, quieted down and glanced at his brother. Did he say something wrong? Iroha's hands trembled a little at the memory the name brought back, Itachi gripped her leg in silent support.

"Naruto, you say? Is he...very loud? What is he like?"

Mikoto smiles with the question, a little strained in the edge but sincere enough to make Sasuke brighten up a bit again. She sends her husband and look, and he quickly abandons the sudden tension in his shoulders.

"Obnoxious. Always late and shouting. And stupid too, considering that he is the dead-last."

His expression turns smug.

"I beat him in spars every time."

It's odd, Iroha thinks, remembering the amount of chakra the boy - Naruto - had. He must be powerful with that kind of chakra reserve, but maybe he isn't smart enough to follow the curriculum?

"But it's also strange that every adult seems to be wary of him. Mother, do you know anything about it? Even the teachers hate him, and I somehow think that it is not because he is the last in our class."

"Teachers?"

Itachi's voice comes out sharp, and even Fugaku looks up at his tone.

"Like who?"

Sasuke's face scrunches up in thought.

"Iruka sensei is the one who scolds him the most, but I think the other one, Mizuki, hates him more."

Mizuki. Iroha recognizes the name, and from the expression of her brother, he does too. The air tenses around Father and Itachi, and Sasuke looks up warily.

"What's wrong? Aniki? Father?"

Mikoto and Fugaku shares a glance, and with a sigh, Mikoto nods her head and Fugaku stands up from his seat.

"Itachi, my office. Now."

"Yes, Father."

Sasuke stared at the two of them, his disappointment and worry showing on his face, and Iroha sighs a bit. She is quite sure the reason her brother and father were so alerted at the name was because she told him that Mizuki tried to pry about her eyes.

"Did...did I do something wrong?"

"No, Sasuke, your father and brother just have a...conversation to make. It's not because of you, darling. Now, tell me more about your class. Do the girls still bother you?"

Sasuke doesn't look quite convinced, but seemed to realize that he will get no information from their mother and started talking about stupid fangirls who can't understand the word 'no'. Tuning him out a bit, Iroha stared to her bowl.

Did that man actually meant her harm?

If so, what happens if he noticed anything strange about her?

* * *

"Nothing extraordinary, you say?"

"Yes, she was just blind. Didn't even seem to be sensor type."

"Not even a sensor?"

A pale eyebrow rose under a pair of glasses and the man nodded.

"She didn't see the stairs in front of her and bumped right into it. She could be a sensor later with some training, most of the blind ninjas do, but she didn't seem exceptional."

"Nothing noteworthy then?"

"Yeah. Just a scrawny kid who doesn't even have a possibility of the Sharingan. I don't think there is anything in her that would make Orochimaru-sama interested."

"That's disappointing."

Kabuto sighed, scribbling something in his report.

"It would have been convenient to have a more vulnerable Uchiha, since Uchiha Shisui and Itachi are nearly untouchable."

"Well, but it also means that the girl won't be much of a threat."

Mizuki pointed out.

"We have enough Uchiha on our backs as it is, we didn't need another."

"True."

Mizuki has a point, Kabuto thinks. It was unfortunate that there won't be a spare pair of Sharingan for Orochimaru-sama, but the news itself that the youngest of the Uchiha main house is practically useless isn't bad. Good, even.

He smirks, a little dark and a lot snake-like, and wonders what his master would say about this.

* * *

Iroha is training with Itachi when she sees that shinobi who came to her call again. She remembers his chakra, and the subtle white tinge to it, and remembers his gloved hands covering hers. And a new presence of chakra in her vision is too much a distraction that her aim goes haywire and the kunai she's holding sails straight towards the man's abdomen. Which he catches in midair without even blinking. Cool.

Iroha tries not to flush in embarrassment as Itachi narrows his eyes at his ANBU captain. These were private Uchiha training grounds, and even Hound is not exactly allowed inside without an insider's permission. As an answer to his unspoken question, Shisui appears half a second later and Itachi gives an exasperating look at his cousin.

"Well, sweetheart, I think training is over for today."

Shisui tells her in a cheerful voice, but Iroha can literally see his anxiety so she is not fooled at all. But she knows when she has to listen to people, so she smiles at her brother and cousin, bows slightly at the shinobi, and walks towards the house without looking back.

"Taicho," Itachi says as the girl disappears into the door, "These are _private grounds, _and I do not understand why we couldn't have met outside."

Kakashi flicks his hand at Shisui, because he is mature enough to blame all this to his subordinate, and Shisui gulps a little and tries to explain.

"I needed a private place to talk, Itachi. I didn't think that Iroha was training till now."

He actually has a point, because there is nowhere more secluded than this place, and Iroha should have been home by now if she didn't insist on extra training today. So Itachi sighs, nods his head, and lifts his eyebrows watching Shisui activating the privacy seal around the grounds. There weren't a living soul around them and the main house who could listen to them.

"That much?"

Shisui nods, and flops to the ground as Kakashi lazily leans against a tree. To his mild surprise, it is Kakashi who speaks first.

"We met while following Mizuki."

The statement contains just enough amount of faux-cheerfulness that Itachi stares at both of them in disbelief. Shisui sends him a faintly apologetic look, which Itachi ignores pointedly. Kakashi snorts, than goes on.

"I had been watching Mizuki for a few days after Naruto was...hospitalized."

Shisui winces a bit at the mention of the boy, and Itachi just keeps silent. Uzumaki Naruto was a very touchy subject to his superior, and it was rare for him to bring him up in a conversation voluntarily. But still, given that it was Iroha who saved the boy the other day, and Mizuki seems to be quite hostile to Naruto, Itachi mildly wonders if Mizuki is dead by now and Kakashi came to ask him to help hide his body. Not that he needs help, that is.

"It was a part of my...guarding duty."

A guarding duty which ended quite a while ago, but Itachi keeps silent, and Kakashi eye-smiles at him.

"What do you know about Yakushi Kabuto, Itachi?"

* * *

It is not long after starting her training that Iroha finds out that Genjutsu simply doesn't work on her. Not only does she notice the slight distorting of the chakra around her, but the fact that nobody could imitate her sense of sight is a dead giveaway. After watching her saying "Kai!" for like five times, Shisui just shook his head and ruffled her hair, and called it a day.

"Enjoy the sunlight or something, sweetheart. You spend too much time inside that is."

Iroha scoffs a little, and Shisui gives a her a little sad smile.

"Do you want to go out? You barely go out of the compound, do you?"

It was true, partly because of her own protection, and partly because she hated the assessing looks she was given when she walked through the village. The clansmen were bad enough, she didn't need more whispering voices.

"Want to go to the Hokage Mountain?"

"Why would I want to go there?"

Her voice comes out sharply than she intends to, but Iroha can't help it, not with barely contained resentment bubbling in her chest.

"It's not like I could exactly enjoy the view, is it?"

Shisui winces.

"And I don't like climbing things."

Iroha knows she isn't one for physical activities, her desire to be a ninja was more of a survival sense rather than a preference. Running laps every day was tiring enough, and she lacked the stamina and the willpower to do more voluntarily.

"I could carry you."

"Are you really that bored?"

"Iroha..."

She closes her eyes, breathes out the morning air, and tries to remember that none of this is Shisui's fault, not anyone's fault really, while simultaneously attempting to erase the image of bandages ripped apart in her fury this morning. She had been sick of them. Maybe changing the colors will help, probably pink or yellow just to make Father raise a disapproving brow and Sasuke twitch, she thinks ruefully and nods her head.

"I want dango too, Shisui-nii."

Shisui smiles, if a tad sorrowful, and he pats her head.

"Sure, sweetheart."

* * *

It turns out that apparently Shisui is needed in ANBU, or other department that he participates in, and he hands her the dango and dumps Sasuke in the picture to 'look after her'. Iroha protests, of course, because she could just go back to the house, take off the bandages and lock herself in her room. Who cares about sunlight and meadows and good weather when she can do _that_?

But Sasuke is stubborn, more so than her cousin, and he too agrees that she spends to much time inside, and promises to carry her all the way up to the Hokage Mountain. And Shisui laughs, probably at the mental picture of a scrawny 6 year old carrying a 4 year old toddler, and grabs them both before shunshin-ing towards their destination.

"Well, kids, don't come home too early - or too late for that matter, Aunt Mikoto will have my head - and have fun!"

Then he promptly disappears.

Sasuke stares at the blank space that was occupied merely a second ago, and mutters,

"I am _so _telling Mother."

Iroha snickers.

* * *

The picnic isn't half bad, and Iroha decides she should do this more often. The soft breeze was warm against her skin, the weather was lovely, and everything was so quiet and peaceful. Lying on her back in the grass, Iroha turned to face her brother, who was staring off at the distance.

"Do you have any friends in the academy, nii-san?"

Sasuke lets out a scoff.

"Friends? No, they are all stupid."

"Now, that's just mean, nii-san."

"I told you how annoying they all are."

"Yes, but only about the girls, Sasuke-nii. What about the boys? Surely they are not all that bad."

Execpt Naruto, she almost said, but she held her tongue.

"I don't _need _friends."

It was just sad, Iroha thought, that the only amiable one in the family except herself is Shisui, and that her two brothers lack in social interactions.

"I am not saying that you _need_ one, I'm just asking."

"Well, I don't plan on befriending any idiots."

"Are they really all stupid?"

Iroha's voice was skeptical, and Sasuke pouts.

"Fine, the Nara isn't, they are supposed to be geniuses, but he is always sleeping and lazing about."

"Well, thank you for your correct assessment of my character, Uchiha. Can't say I'm flattered."

Someone drawled behind them in a mildly irritated voice, making Iroha jump slightly and sit up in surprise.

It was a boy, with a spiky ponytail and a faint tint of shadow-grey around his chakra, slouched with his hands inside her pockets. Sasuke narrowed his eye with a cordial nod of his head, a faint blush barely noticeable on his cheekbones.

"Nara."

"Uchiha."

The boy moved towards them, and Iroha noticed in slight fascination that the grey flicker of chakra was moving like a shadow. Or rather, the shadow itself seemed to have chakra. It was interesting, even if she knew that the Nara's specialization was in their shadow techniques.

The Nara's eyes flickered towards her minutely, and Iroha silently waited for any comment on her apparent blindness, remembering the last time she met her brother's classmates. Instead, he just asks,

"And this is?"

"My younger sister."

Sasuke's voice is curt and tight, as if daring the other boy to say anything out of the line. The Nara simply nods his head, muttering a 'Troublesome' under his breath and crouches in front of Iroha.

"Hi, my name is Nara Shikamaru."

Iroha offers him a slight, a bit shy smile, because this is the first time someone who is not part of the clan is introduced to her, and his chakra was warm with gentle curiosity and honesty and not an ounce of pity, and relaxes.

"Hello, Nara-san. My name is Uchiha Iroha."

The boy smiles, and his chakra flickers a little shyly.

"Shikamaru. Call me Shikamaru."

And Iroha knew she will.


End file.
